The present and future of SMS for business

As a recent report noted, globally “the use of SMS as a channel for business communications will continue to grow over the next 10 years.” This might fly in the face of what we all see every day with live feeds, social media and so on. However, this does not take into account that, despite complexity, other forms of communication might not be best for business. As the report notes, this growth is driven by “the ability of SMS to reach 99.99 percent of mobile devices globally with a 90 percent read rate.”

That is an incredible benefit to any business wanting to make an impact in a world where people are saturated with media devices yearning for attention. It’s no wonder that despite being one of the oldest ways to communicate in the modern world, it’s still promising for today’s business.

The benefits of SMS messaging for your business

Many forget that just as there have been new avenues to reach customers, there’s also been an increase in control – meaning people can shut off, ignore and easily miss attempts from businesses to get their attention.

But that shows precisely why we must use SMS. Consider: in America, almost everyone has a phone, according to Pew. Even the continent of Africa is known as the “mobile continent”, due to the massive number of mobile phones in use. As one article notes: “Mobile penetration is expected to reach 79 percent in Africa by 2020.” Mobile phones are everywhere, even in places we think would not use them. One estimate says there are over 7 billion cellphone subscriptions worldwide.

To receive an SMS, people don’t need the latest smartphone. SMS messaging works for any mobile device, even those without internet access. And if you are almost guaranteed the recipient will read these, it’s no wonder more businesses opt for bulk SMS services and related products.

People are also more likely to read SMS messages due to their size. Everyone knows they have character limits unlike, say, emails. Immediacy is key and that’s why these get read. Brevity combined with simplicity make these ideal. This means if you’re using a bulk SMS service, you’re sending more refined, shorter messages – and brevity always makes for better marketing.

If you want to see your business grow, SMS must be an avenue you take. Consider Clickatell’s SMS products and get started by signing up for a free account today.

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